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jbjxsh's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Could not put this book down. A fantastic and unique fantasy book about revenge with some of the best action sequences I've ever read. It's super fast-paced, almost too much so at times, but the writing and the plot definitely deliver.
Excited to jump into The Fires of Vengeance and see how Tau's journey and the story of the Omehi people continues from here.
Excited to jump into The Fires of Vengeance and see how Tau's journey and the story of the Omehi people continues from here.
vermilionred's review against another edition
1.0
Is this an unfair rating? Perhaps this is an unfair rating. I sincerely believe that you can only really hate books that you have to read for school, because anything else you will put down before you read the true fathomless depths of your hatred for something, because you hate it that much. This book is super hyped. Everyone seems to love it. at 311/523 pages (almost exactly 60%), I have finally hit the point where I can say 'Enough. I am through'.
Let's begin with the things that I liked:
The power system was kind of cool, with buffing the fighters & sending people into hell.
I kinda liked the African flavor to it. It still felt kinda western to me, which I'm pretty sure says more about me and what I know about African military culture than anything else.
Things that I didn't like:
The entire premise of the main character's specialness was kind of stupid. The idea that he was just that much more determined than anyone else in the history of forever, and because the bestest swordfighter every by practicing for an extra (2? 6?) hours a day, instead of pulling a muscle and getting laid up for months with injury was just deeply unbelievable to me. Any premise that depends on the main character being the first person in this history of forever to act rationally is not a good one.
The idea that a normal person can defeat superheros in a fair fight by being super determined and training slightly more is also left me pretty unmoved. I'm all about stories which deconstruct caste systems, but maybe make those points in a story which, again, isn't about people who can summon dragons and send people to Hell and buff people up to become superstrong and also invincible and are therefore literally demonstrably better. Oh wait I forgot that this guy can overcome that through sheer force of...being really into swordfighting training? Leaving it there.
The main character was also just truly unutterably stupid. Even in a fair system if you can't control your temper and stop killing people you're going to have a bad time. His vengence plots were poorly fought out and bad. Should have become a master poisoner instead, it would have saved him a lot of time, and more importantly me about 200 pages on the training grounds.
Training sequences are boring. There's a reason that the whole 'training montage' trope is a thing. That's because reading about the same swordfight over and over again for 300 pages is really fucking boring. I think he made a friend or two partway through so that was exciting.
Female characters also sucked in this novel. There was Zuri, who liked Tau, and that was pretty much it in terms of women with significant on-page time. She also doesn't count, because she gets murdered at the end, and tbh doesn't have enough screen-time for me to have any particularly clear idea of who she is and what she wants, apart from Tau. Not into it.
Then again, maybe I'm being unfair, because pretty much all of his characters were pretty flat. Dialog was bad, characters were bad, and plot was weak.
Anyway, tl;dr overhyped progression fantasy. I really wanted to like it. I read 300 pages, trying to give it a fair shot. Some people seem to really like it. It really wasn't for me.
Let's begin with the things that I liked:
The power system was kind of cool, with buffing the fighters & sending people into hell.
I kinda liked the African flavor to it. It still felt kinda western to me, which I'm pretty sure says more about me and what I know about African military culture than anything else.
Things that I didn't like:
The entire premise of the main character's specialness was kind of stupid. The idea that he was just that much more determined than anyone else in the history of forever, and because the bestest swordfighter every by practicing for an extra (2? 6?) hours a day, instead of pulling a muscle and getting laid up for months with injury was just deeply unbelievable to me. Any premise that depends on the main character being the first person in this history of forever to act rationally is not a good one.
The idea that a normal person can defeat superheros in a fair fight by being super determined and training slightly more is also left me pretty unmoved. I'm all about stories which deconstruct caste systems, but maybe make those points in a story which, again, isn't about people who can summon dragons and send people to Hell and buff people up to become superstrong and also invincible and are therefore literally demonstrably better. Oh wait I forgot that this guy can overcome that through sheer force of...being really into swordfighting training? Leaving it there.
The main character was also just truly unutterably stupid. Even in a fair system if you can't control your temper and stop killing people you're going to have a bad time. His vengence plots were poorly fought out and bad. Should have become a master poisoner instead, it would have saved him a lot of time, and more importantly me about 200 pages on the training grounds.
Training sequences are boring. There's a reason that the whole 'training montage' trope is a thing. That's because reading about the same swordfight over and over again for 300 pages is really fucking boring. I think he made a friend or two partway through so that was exciting.
Female characters also sucked in this novel. There was Zuri, who liked Tau, and that was pretty much it in terms of women with significant on-page time. She also doesn't count, because she gets murdered at the end, and tbh doesn't have enough screen-time for me to have any particularly clear idea of who she is and what she wants, apart from Tau. Not into it.
Then again, maybe I'm being unfair, because pretty much all of his characters were pretty flat. Dialog was bad, characters were bad, and plot was weak.
Anyway, tl;dr overhyped progression fantasy. I really wanted to like it. I read 300 pages, trying to give it a fair shot. Some people seem to really like it. It really wasn't for me.
ontheclouds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
5.0
yenisargueta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
laurenisbitchin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
justynharlyn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
justynharlyn's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ksydwlt's review against another edition
5.0
this book... wow. Face paced pandemonium, well written characters, an intriguing world, an amazing "magic" element, and a great plot. I cant wait to start book two.
cyngharris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5